Gangnam style rules in Sri Lanka

West Indies ended a pretty barren run in ICC tournaments and gave their fans much to cheer about with a historic triumph against hosts, Sri Lanka in the final of the T20 WC. In a surprisingly low scoring encounter, Marlon Samuels starred with a superb 78 off 56 balls to give the Windies a decent total. Defending 138, the visitors were boosted by some fantastic bowling from Sunil Narine, Darren Sammy and Marlon Samuels as they trumped the hosts by 36 runs to seal an unforgettable tournament for Darren Sammy's men.

Opting to bat first, West Indies had to endure a bad start as they lost Johnson Charles in the very first over. The right-hander had been struggling for form and could not make an impact in the final, as he top-edged the 5th delivery of the innings to Nuwan Kulasekara. The Windies struggled to get a move on after that, their first run off the bat came off the 16th ball. The pitch seemed to have a little extra for the pacers and the Lankans exploited that well giving away just 12 runs off the first 5 overs.

They extended their already superb start in the next over. Ajantha Mendis was introduced into the attack and the spinner needed just five balls to put WI on the mat. The hosts were backed by some tremendous fielding as well as they ensured WI did not get any easy runs. Marlon Samuels started to find the middle of the bat with a few shots as West Indies reached a lowly 32 runs at the half way mark.

West Indies recognized the need to get some big overs so that they can post a challenging total and Dwayne Bravo and Samuels started to free their arms. Dwayne Bravo carted Akila Dananjeya, who was brought in for Rangana Herath, for a six before Marlon Samuels smashed Lasith Malinga for 3 sixes in one over to give WI some hope of getting to a decent total. They however suffered a setback soon after, with Ajantha Mendis striking to dismiss birthday boy, Bravo for 19.

Samuels continued to take the fight to the opposition as he smashed Jeevan Mendis for a six, to bring up a fine fifty, and a four. With 5 overs still to play and a well-set Samuels at the crease, West Indies had a good chance of getting in excess of 140 but they suffered a double setback in the next over. Ajantha Mendis sent back the dangerous Kieron Pollard and then accounted for Andre Russell off the very next ball to leave WI in trouble.

Samuels, however, wasn't finished with his big hitting and took a liking to Malinga. The right-armer couldn't find the right length and Samuels was severe on him smashing him for a four and 2 massive sixes. Samuels had faced 11 balls off Malinga and tonked him for an astonishing 39 runs.

He was finally out in the 18th over but had played a brilliant hand of 78 off 56 balls. Darren Sammy took up the mantle and ensured West Indies got to a decent total. The WI skipper helped his team smash 25 runs of the last 2 overs as the Caribbean side finished with 137/6.

West Indies' defence started off brilliantly as Ravi Rampaul dismissed T Dilshan for a duck in the second over of the innings. Sri Lanka's most experienced players, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara steadied the ship with a cautious stand. The duo added 42 runs at a slow pace before tragedy struck for SL. The hosts lost Sangakkara to an ugly swipe off Samuel Badree. The wicket proved to be the shot in the arm the Windies needed and Sammy's men upped their game to another level.

Sammy gave them another wicket in the next over, castling Angelo Mathews while Sunil Narine accounted for the big fish by getting rid of Jayawardene. When Thisara Perera was run out soon two balls later the writing was on the wall for the hosts. Nuwan Kulasekara continued to fight for Lanka as he smashed 22 runs off Ravi Rampaul to give the hosts an outside chance. Fittingly, Marlon Samuels picked up a wicket as he had Ajantha Mendis caught in the deep and Sunil Narine hammered the final nail in the coffin dismissing Malinga to seal a big 36 run win and spark of wild celebrations, Gangnam style celebrations, from the West Indies team.

Unbeatable on their day, mesmerising the opposition and haplessly poor on the other, collapsing like 9 pins, but Nikhil Narain finds out why they have been so consistent in the shortest format of the game.